Powders For 35 Whelen

[truck driver]

What powders were used before the RL 15, Varget and 8208XBR powders came along? Just curious what was used before Remington made it legal and these new powders came along.

 

[JD338]

I go to powders were IMR4064 and AA2015BR

JD338

 

[gerry]

I used AA 2015 as well before those powders you listed and it worked well. In the past powders such as IMR 3031, IMR 4064, IMR4320, IMR 4895, BLC(2) and H 4895 were used and still would work well today. We had a good load as well with the 225 gr Partition and IMR 3031.

 

[wvchevy3]

I used AA 2015 as well before those powders you listed and it worked well. In the past powders such as IMR 3031, IMR 4064, IMR4320, IMR 4895, BLC(2) and H 4895 were used and still would work well today. We had a good load as well with the 225 gr Partition and IMR 3031.

All great powders. I have have good luck with Imr4895 and 4064.Lee

 

[truck driver]

So far for accuracy loads with IMR 4064 has been very good compared to some of the newer powders.
Scotty ran a QL for me for RL 17 and when looking threw burn rate charts I noticed it was very close to IMR4350 and probably the same as H4350 since it is slower than IMR4350. I think RL17 feel right between the two if I remember right.
Maybe some one could run a QL for 225gr AB and 225gr Sierra's just for a comparison.
It might be interesting to see what H4350 will do out of a 22" barrel.

 

[wildgene]

...IMR 4350, H4350, RL-17, AA4350...

 

[SJB358]

IMR4064, RL12, IMR4320, 4895's and a couple others were on my skyline. I found RL15 though. The rest is history.

 

[truck driver]

I understand that RL15 is the pick of the litter and IMR8208XBR might be the next best thing but haven't shot enough of it to know. IMR4064 is hard to beat along with Varget. It just seems like just about anything you try in it seems to work. I'm going to dig around some more in the old manuals just to how it has developed over the years.

 

[wisconsinteacher]

I am going to start out with Varget and if that does not work, I am going to try IMR4064.

 

[JD338]

FWIW, i started loading for the 35 Whelen in 1988 and my go to powder was IMR4064.
These days I load RL15 and get better performance.

JD338

 

[SJB358]

IMR4064 and the 200 grain Hornady at 200 yards.





They ran pretty fast as well. Looking for the data sheet but they were coming out around 2850-2900 if I remember correctly.

 

[preacher]

I started loading my 35 WAI in '95. I fireformed cases with the Speer 220 seated into the lands over a moderate load of IMR4895 ( its what I had) I then used the older AA 2015br with the 250X for 2600fps. I tried every powder in Barnes first manual for the 200X before finally trying H322. Bingo. I have used H322 with 200 grain bullets ever since. I later tried R15 with heavier cup n core bullets and, of course, am happy as a pig in slop! From what I've read of the original Whelen, 4064 and 4320 were the cats meow back then. I'm sure just about any reasonable/available powder had been tried, and when you get into cast bullets they used all kinds of weird (to me) powders, lol. I don't think the Whelen (or AI versions) really needs a lot of speed to work well on big game. I was only after a goal of 250X/2600 from my 22" barreled Classic and the AI/2015br got me there with mild pressure. I could push that baby much faster, but my goal and outstanding accuracy ( .5) was reached long before. Fast forward to a couple years ago... the 250NP/R15 in my rifle with new, fireformed cases gets me velocities way over eye bulging range, with no apparent psi problems. I probably will never even use that load for anything as my 200TTSX load and my 310 Woodleigh/R15 load shoot within an inch of each other ( 200 @ 2950 +1" with the 310 @ 2400 spot on) I just can't seem to leave the house for a hunt w/o those two rounds in my pocket! ha.

 

[DrMike]

Nothing wrong with those groups. They'd even excite many of us at 100 yards, Scotty!